3D Printing- Hidden Costs You Need to Know W. Daniel Fraser New Business Development- Technology www.3dsystems.com NYSE: DDD
Inkjet vs Inkjet Variables between a manufacturer The most similar technology (inkjet) and most direct competition to ProJet MJP is Stratasys Eden & Connex Polyjet Printers. : Inferior part quality, feature detail, feature sharpness More narrow range of addressable applications no castable materials Labor intensive, part-damaging support removal process Short print head life and replacement cost Extensive user maintenance between print jobs Higher material consumption/waste adding part cost Inferior part and material stability limits application uses Unpleasant odor in operation not really office friendly
Material differences between inkjet technologies ProJet MJP Stratasys Polyjet Long-life Print Head Consumable Print Heads HOT COOLED Phase change material freezes in place on contact to ensure full droplet control UV Cure Liquid material is free flowing until UV cure hardens material. During the lag time Tthere is loss of droplet control Better droplet control at thicker layers means superior part quality 16 micron necessary to control free-flowing droplets 3 3
DPI and resolution are print head measurements, not accuracy measurements. MJP print droplets are thermally controlled for superior print definition Material droplets freeze on contact no continued flowing/spreading Printed material does not ooze over edges or pool in corners UV cure only used for final material hardness, not print control Superior feature definition even with thicker Z-layers Edges are sharp, holes are round, corners are clean Superior sidewall quality
Stratasys Myths About MJP Stratasys Myth: Polyjet Parts are more accurate than MJP Objet Other Missing 2mm Objet PolyJet Other Jetted Tech
ProJet Uses 20-25% Less Material* Superior MJP print control provides superior feature definition with thicker Z-layers Thicker Z-layers means fewer layers and less waste Each layer in an inkjet style process is planarized (scrapped flat with a blade) to ensure flat and accurate Z-layers Planarization generates waste material More layers means more waste is deposited in the waste bin More waste means higher material cost to print parts VisiJet support material is strong enough alone to do its job Polyjet support material is not; must blend expensive build material in the print process adding additional cost * Typical
ProJet MJP Stratasys Polyjet
ProJet Stratasys Polyjet
ProJet Stratasys Polyjet
ProJet MJP Stratasys Polyjet 0.4mm
ProJet Objet HD3000 Eden 260 w/ EX200 Matl w/ Vero Mat'l ProJet MJP Polyjet Material & Consumables Build Mat'l Price/kg 256.25 $ 250.00 Support Mat'l Price/kg 168.21 $ 125.00 Part Info Max. Z height (inches) 0.5315 0.5315 Finished Part Weight (kg) 0.0104 0.0104 Parts/Build 10 10 Material Usage Total Blended Mat'l Required/Part (kg) 0.2534 0.4110 Build Mat'l Reqr'd/Part (kg) 0.1324 0.1850 Support Mat'l Reqr'd/Part (kg) 0.1210 0.2260 Material Cost Per Part $ 54.28 $ 74.50
Finishing Wax supports simply melt away with no support scars Hands-free process saves time and labor Entire build platform of parts processed together saves more time No geometry limitations wax melts out of inaccessible internal cavities No physical force exerted on part that could damage delicate features No chemicals required Wax supports are inert, no special disposal required No facilities requirement for water inlet or drain
Stratasys Polyjet Post-Processing Requires WaterJet station Supports manually removed with hot-water jet Requires water plumbing And waste plumbing can it go down drain? Parts still sticky after WaterJet washing Requires 1-2 hour rinsing in caustic solution (NaOH) Parts require manual wet or dry sanding and often sandblasting (not included) Pictures from Objet instruction sheet:
Stratasys Polyjet Post Processing WaterJet Waterjet gloves not ergonomically friendly, parts become slippery and hard to hold Small models can are easily dropped, delicate features damaged with high pressure cleaning Water pressure can lead to arm and back fatigue The entire process is manual, tedious and time-consuming
Stratasys Polyjet Post Processing Objet Scrape parts from build platform and remove residue. Manually remove support structures with a variety of tools to dig and scrape away the waxy substance. Fine details are often accidentally broken in the process. Use a high-pressure water jet to remove remaining material from surface. Small features are often destroyed by the jetting. Some areas of parts it is impossible to remove the support material, trapping it inside volumes. -Total Time: Polyjet: 1hr 52mins 100% manual ProJet MJP: 1 hr 10 min 10 min. manual
Material Comparisons VeroClear Vero Family Duros White Tango Black Other Objet Other Objet Variety of Objet Thermoplastic materials a. Objet vs. Other without treatment b. Objet vs. Other after polish and lacquer
Material performance is not objectively measured Stratasys points to similar, or slightly higher heat deflection temperature (HDT) for their Polyjet materials on the specs and claims higher temperature capability HDT only points to the temperature where the properties of a plastic begin to change, not the rate of degradation of properties above the HDT ProJet ObjetProJet 40 C 30 C ProJet Objet 50 C Objet 17 17
Material Properties are best tested for the application at hand Other jetted materials datasheets Objet materials datasheets
Stratasys Myths About MJP Don t trust published datasheets over actual performance testing in application. Have the prospect benchmark and test parts in application. Stratasys is not showing the stronger MJP materials in their comparisons: Typical ABS Standard tests do not show rate of degradation after exceeding heat distortion temperature (Polyjet materials rapid lose stability and performance after exceeding the HDT (MJP materials do not due to the heat-setting that occurs during the heated MJP printing process). MJP Polyjet VisiJet M3-X VisiJet M3 Black VeroClear Durus White Tensile Strength, MPa 35-50 49 35.2 50-60 20-30 Elongation, % 5-25 8.3 19.7 10-25 40-50 Heat Distortion Temperature 80-95 o C 88 o C 57 o C 45-50 o C 37-42 o C Tensile Modulus, MPa 1700-2800 2168 1594 2000-3000 1000-1200 Flexural Strength, MPa 52-80 65 44.5 75-110 30-40
Print Head Warranties ProJet MJP printers have one wide-pass heavy-duty industrial print head ProJet MJP print heads don t wear out like Polyjet print heads Save up to $20,000 or more over 5 years Typical Polyjet Printhead Costs Year # PHs replaced Cost 1 4 $4,000 2 4 $4,000 3 4 $4,000 4 4 $4,000 5 4 $4,000 Total 20 $20,000
Maintenance Schedule and Purge Cycles ProJet MJP print head maintenance is automatic. Polyjet print heads require frequent manual cleaning, not ergonomically friendly. ProJet MJP ship with 2 removable build platforms eliminating downtime for faster print job turnarounds. Polyjet platforms are fixed requiring significant scrapping and cleaning prior to starting a new print job. ProJet MJP has a no lube design further reducing labor and downtime. Stratasys Polyjet printers require significant ongoing user maintenance.
Polyjet Maintenance
Don t Confuse Build Speed with Build Time Even though EnvisionTec claims faster build speed in Z, actual build time for ProJet is typically shorter 9 hours 36 minutes 13 hours 0 minutes ProJet With ProJet, you can orient parts for shortest build time without sacrificing part quality
Fast Throughput SLA High Throughput ProJet TM 6000 8 hr 38min (HD) 13mm/hr Confidential For Internal Use Only 8 Hours 38 Minutes Objet 260 12 hr 42 min (HQ) 5 mm/hr (orientation not angled) Page 24
Lattice Supports Reduce waste High Efficiency Material Usage Competitive Inkjet 5.94 material ea. 16.99 material ea. Confidential For Internal Use Only Page 25
DLP Setup Time Depends on support Generation single material system. Manual editing of support structure location is typically required, taking 2 to 20 minutes per part. Part orientation is critical to final part quality vertical orientation often required to avoid excessive support scars on critical surfaces and excessive part warping adds significant build time. Model >>>>>>>>> Supported Model
DLP support structure Must be removed manually Supports leave scars on model Support scars must be hand-filed Models are not fully cured off machine requires washing and additional time in a light-curing chamber to complete the curing process.
Supports May Be Inaccessable Inaccessable support
Supports Impossible To Remove On Some Geometries Dense support removal impractical Parts will fail
Sintering success with ProX 100
Direct Metals
Easy Support Removal
Integrated Hands Off Powder Handling on production equipment Automated powder handling Good atmosphere control Safe handling of reactive metals PX-BOX
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